June 2024 Group Read (spoiler thread): Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

spoiler thread for Dark Matter.

[Chris]

50% in, still really enjoying it, but it seriously messes with your head if you start trying to make sense of it all.

[Storm Bay]

This isn't a book that makes sense :)

[Chris]

Finished it, enjoyed it and gave it five stars but with an Asterix. I feel the author pushed this too far. Two Jasons' would have been fun, maybe three for a twist. But dozens meant that you never got to know any of the alter-egos. Having said this, I still enjoyed it as a read.

[Tonya]

I read this in 2019. I enjoyed it and gave it 5 stars.

[Megan]

I think the ending was amazing, but like another commenter, I didn’t think we needed 50 Jasons still alive by the end. We never needed so many. And we definitely didn’t need all of the murders before the showdown with Jason2. The chat room was a nice touch, but I was bummed when it was more than 7… and then it was in the 70s?!

Still a 5 star. I LOVED it.

[Cassia]

Is a science fiction thriller that delves into the duality between the lives we could have lived and the ones we actually experience. Unlike H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine," which focuses on time travel, this book emphasizes the impact of choices and their consequences. It provokes deep reflection on the nature of reality and the intricate paths our lives can take.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Cassia wrote: "Is a science fiction thriller that delves into the duality between the lives we could have lived and the ones we actually experience. Unlike H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine," which focuses on time tr..."

I totally agree! That said, I love reading any Blake Crouch novels, even though sometimes I have not given him more than three stars. He has a cRazY and very fun imaginative approach to his plots, which I always admire very much.

[Emma]

Actually, I liked that the Jasons multiplied ad nauseam, to better illustrate the multiverse possibilities.
It was neat to have really developed characters, especially Jason 1 and his family.
I also liked the background message, at least, the way I read it: be happy with your current life, in the moment present, this is the only one you have, and the grass is not necessarily better on the other side.
By the way, I listened to the book, and I found the narrator Jon Lidstrom to be really excellent in his tone with the various characters.
This is my second by Blake Crouch, I am so glad this book was chosen - I had only read Upgrade before this one. And now I want to read Recursion.

I read a review recently that said another novel did a better job on the multiverse. Alas, I can't remember the blogger nor the novel!! Any idea?

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished this one. It was an easy read. Lots of short sentences. Short paragraphs.

Sometimes.

Just.

One.

Word.

Which got irritating. It reminded me of the one and only James Patterson novel I read which had like 200 chapters jammed into a 350 page book because some chapters were only one sentence long.

I liked the comparison to The Time Machine made by Cassia. I thought of that as well while I read Dark Matter. Both books don't spend much time trying to come up with a plausible explanation for their scientific gizmos and focus instead on the human aspects of the story.

The exploration of the theoretical multiverse concept in quantum physics through the journey of a man trying to return to his family allowed Crouch to examine the human side of the idea in a way that is probably more appealing to the average reader than a more straightforward investigation of the premise would be. Still, I feel like the solemnity with which Crouch approached the story didn't allow him to explore some of the absurdities with a greater sense of humor. I can only imagine what Philip K Dick would have done with the same concept.

So at the end of the day I gave it three stars, mostly for the human element which Crouch successfully applied to an exploration of a theoretical concept. But it really didn't move the needle much for me.